The wonder of Cinemascope and the majesty of Bernard Herrmann’s score are the two main reasons to take a trip BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF (102 mins., 1953), a musty old 20th Century-Fox melodrama that’s been supremely rendered in high-definition this month by Twilight Time. Given the movie’s checkered past of tepid home video releases, the glossy high-def Blu-Ray image may come as a revelation for many viewers, presenting a vibrant color presentation that enhances this early Fox anamorphic adventure.

The September edition of FSM ONLINE is now live. In this month’s double cover story, FSMO takes you to the NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC and STAR WARS IN CONCERT: first, an in-depth look at how an arranging team and conductor DAVID NEWMAN prepared the classic films for performance; then, a detailed account of the opening night of A NEW HOPE. Also this month, BENJAMIN WALLFISCH floats away with IT; a well-mannered MATTHEW MARGESON chats KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE; MICHAEL BROOK makes Jake Gyllenhaal STRONGER; JEAN-MICHEL BERNARD and LALO SCHIFRIN discuss their new album and upcoming concerts; JOE KRAEMER dives behind the iron curtain for COMRADE DETECTIVE; WONG’S TURN scrutinizes the “best” film music according to non-film music sites; an interview with ANDY HILL on his book SCORING THE SCREEN: THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF FILM MUSIC; a HENRY MANCINI Score Restore of THE GREAT RACE; more embedded audio clips, and more.

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The latest release from Intrada is an expanded edition of ROBOT JOX, the 1989 sci-fi action movie directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond) -- sort of like Pacific Rim without the kaiju -- with a score by Frederic Talgorn (Fortress, The Temp).

The fact that we haven’t had many female super-hero flicks makes WONDER WOMAN (***, 143 mins., PG-13; Warner)a novelty by itself – and within the parameters of the genre, this lavish DC Comics box-office smash is a sturdy and well-made fantasy that pits the Amazon Princess against the German forces of WWI…or, to be more precise, Aries, the God of War, whom Diana (Gal Godot) believes is the source of all of mankind’s horrifying military struggles.

A box-office dud in the U.S. that seemed to sum up the disinterest audiences had with much of Hollywood’s Summer ’17 offerings, the Tom Cruise version of THE MUMMY (**, 110 mins., 2017, PG-13) makes a fast track to home video this week, hoping there will be a more interested set of viewers for its meager brand of “contemporary monster fantasy.”

Summing up: this series was inspired by a document I found titled “Composers and Prices as of October 1, 1968,” which was in the papers of an A-list director of that era who was considering a composer for an upcoming prestige project (which was ultimately filmed and released without an original score). The composers were listed by their asking price -- I have ranked them from 1 to 17, based on their fees, and Parts One and Two featured the composers ranked 6 to 17, with the list reprinted at the bottom of this column. The specifics of each composers' age, credits and awards in these columns as are of October 1, 1968, while the box-office figures are generally approximate and incomplete, since the studios in that era did not provide up-to-date movie grosses the way they do today.

Barry would go on to win his third Oscar for that year’s The Lion in Winter. Though he nearly lost his life to a major health crisis in the late 1980s, he maintained a remarkable career, earning his fourth and fifth Oscars for scoring Best Picture winners Out of Africa and Dances With Wolves (which almost makes up for the Academy never nominating a note of his 11 James Bond scores and many Bond songs). His final feature score was 2002’s Enigma, and he died in 2011 at the age of 77.

The latest release from Intrada is a greatly expanded version of Bruce Broughton's score for director Randal Kleiser's 1992 sci-fi comedy sequel HONEY, I BLEW UP THE KID, which also features Broughton's score for the animated short Off His Rockers.

The year’s not over yet but we already have a candidate for one of 2017’s most impressive catalog releases on home video, as Warner’s 4K UHD release of BLADE RUNNER: The Final Cut (****, 117 mins., 1982, R) sports the most satisfying technical presentation yet of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic on home video.

Summing up: this series was inspired by a document I found titled “Composers and Prices as of October 1, 1968,” which was in the papers of an A-list director of that era who was considering a composer for an upcoming prestige project (which was ultimately filmed and released without an original score). The composers were listed by their asking price -- I have ranked them from 1 to 17, based on their fees, and Part One featured the composers ranked 11 to 17, with the list reprinted at the bottom of this column. The specifics of each composers' age, credits and awards in these columns as are of October 1, 1968, while the box-office figures are generally approximate and incomplete, since the studios in that era did not provide up-to-date movie grosses the way they do today.

10A. NELSON RIDDLE

AGE: 47

BIRTHPLACE: Oradell, New Jersey

3 OSCAR NOMINATIONS

7 EMMY NOMINATIONS

1 GRAMMY, 9 NOMINATIONS

RELATIONSHIPS: Frank Sinatra

TYPECAST IN: Comedy

TOP BOX-OFFICE HITS:

1. What a Way to Go!-- 6.1 (U.S. rentals in millions)

2. Come Blow Your Horn--6.0

El Dorado--6.0

4. Ocean’s Eleven--5.5

5. A Hole in the Head--5.2

6. Pal Joey--4.7

7. Lolita--4.5

8. Robin and the 7 Hoods--4.2

9. Li’l Abner--3.2

10. Can-Can--3.0

How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying--3.0

For the rest of his scoring career, Riddle worked mostly in television, including the theme for Emergency!, with the occasional feature like Harper Valley P.T.A. and Rough Cut (for which he adapted the music of Duke Ellington). He received his fourth Oscar nomination for his adaptation of Paint Your Wagon, and he won in 1974 for The Great Gatsby’s adaptation score. His last great success was a trio of albums he arranged of Linda Rondstadt singing classic American songs -- these albums earned him his second and third Grammys, the final one awarded posthumously after his death in 1985 at the age of 64.(Riddle’s ranking on this list was based on his asking price for original scores – his asking price for musicals was 150% more.)